I've been wondering about this for a while. I have a big bottle of old mult-vitamins - pills that could be crushed. What do you think about crushing these and putting some of the powder into container mixes? Or what about sprinkling it around some of the perennials in beds in my nutrient poor amended clay soil? I suppose I could try some with and without. I was thinking about the heavy feeders like dahlias and tomatos and also some of the other veggies I'm going to do in containers. This is not a fertilizer substitute but maybe sort of an nutrient amendment for the soil. I had my soil tested last year and it was as I suspected - so nutrient poor its a miracle anything grows.
I really get tired of trying to remember if I'm supposed to fertilize today or not. And I hate mixing up the lifetime supply of blue-staining Miracle Gro I have. I started using Espoma products which I like very much but for containers I don't think it lasts all season. I wish I could fertilize once and be done with it! Is that lazy or what? Its just a chore I don't like doing.
leftover multi-vitamins
Mmm... interesting question about the Vitamins. Plants, seeds and sprouts do like Vitamin B-1 Thiamine, they say, but I don't know much about their other Vitamin needs. Why don't you try a 'test patch' and let us know!?! If it works out you will be a hero! Everyone will have a use for their out of date Centrum.
About the fertilizing issue-- if your soil is so poor, perhaps amending it with chopped leaves, compost, and other organic matter might save you trouble in the long run?
And to avoid trying to remember if I have to ferilize or not, for heavy feeders and containers I purchased the fertilizer 'stakes' at Home Depot which are effective for several months on flowers and tomatoes.
And then there are the time release ferilizers like Osmocote (and copycats) which I add to planting holes or as a topping, and that takes care of several months fertilizing. I have not used the Espoma products.
Good luck with your idea. t.
Yes - I am a rabid composter and add organic matter every time I work the soil. It is a big task though. I had the county extension agent out and he just laughed and said my soil type is called Mahoning Clay - its blue and dense and if it does dry out its like concrete. It is also nutrient poor as I noted before. I have really started to do lasagna beds or I've bought soil and raised my beds about 10-12". The clay underneath holds moisture and it seems to wick up.
i've found osmocote to be the best for time release continuous action that lasts.
You don't even have to crush the vitamin pills. A few years back, I was visiting a commercial grower and he said they buy multivitamin tablets with IRON at the dollar stores and stick one in each pot. He said it works better than SuperThrive and was easier. I've been doing it since and have really green plants without disease, that is, if I don't kill them some other way. I only do it once a year.
And speaking of dollar stores, I find some great gardening stuff there. Yesterday I bought 14 huge clay pots. The are 16" and that's the only size they had. They had quarts of Peters all purpose plant food concentrate, packages of 50 Jiffy pots, and 100% leather gloves. Where am I going to find that for a buck? The only problem is that you have to buy it when you see it because the next time you go, it won't be there unless it's something really common. Check out the larger dollar stores, you'll be surprised.
chunx-- Very Interesting report! Will look for all of my old vitamins or go to the Dollar store (which has become my new hang out, BTW!)
I am running to go look at the bottle to find out if it has Iron in it!!
This is great - I'm sort of thinking of Squanto showing the nice folks at Plymouth Rock how to plant corn with a fish in each hole.
Re: Dollar Stores I was walking thru a store in FL and found my favorite kind of gardening gloves for $3 - leather hand with a canvas gauntlet that is about 8' long. I have only found them at Smith and Hawken where they are regularly $40 a pair - I got one time on sale for $20. I bought 5 pairs and they are hoarded in my laundry room where the kids can't find them. I just picked up seeds last week for $0.10 a pack and the coolest little adapter kit that fits on any screw top bottle and has a sprinkler end on it. Works perfectly for watering seeds - I put it on a pint water bottle and just squeeze gently. Their hand tools actually look pretty nice.
alyrics-- yes, I've become hooked on Dollar Stores, too. Family Dollar, Dollar Tree, Dollar General...I've checked them all out. And then Big Lots, (a little more spendy) of course, too. And Tuesday Morning for more 'upscale' stuff.
Bought my aluminum roasting pans for wintersowing there 2 for a dollar. Also the plastic paint tarps to cut for covering them. Snagged 10 packs of seed for a dollar, too. And a pair of gardening gloves (not as nice as yours, though.) Also pots for my deck-- very cheap. Bird feeders. Trellises. too.
And I noticed they had bags of potting soil, but I was reluctant to buy it because it wasn't a brand I knew of. I always check at the Dollar stores now before going to Depot or Lowes.
Really kind of fun places.
I buy my greeting cards there too.